If I’m being honest with you all (and myself), my food has not been too great lately. With my work schedule, there are only certain days that I can go to the grocery store. And when I did go this past week, I didn’t really feel like getting enough to last all the days it needed to.
I’ve had some fast food this week. When I don’t bring a lunch with me to work, that’s almost the only option. We only have 30 minutes and most of the restaurants near my work would take much longer than that.
Even though I’ve been eating some foods that I probably shouldn’t, I’m still tracking my calories in My Fitness Pal. And shockingly, I’m staying under my calorie goal most days. These calories are not the best to have, but I’m wondering if that matters.
I’m maintaining the weight loss that I had from both not being able to eat food and being sick. Sometimes, it will go up a pound or two, but I think that’s more from sodium than anything.
I don’t want to be stuck in this routine. It’s not good. But it’s tough to get out. I should have gone to the grocery store yesterday, but I didn’t. And tonight, I’m working until 9pm and I really hate going to the grocery store that late. Honestly, I probably won’t make it to the store until Wednesday.
So I have to figure out what I’ll do for lunch today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Dinner for tonight and tomorrow most likely will be Subway. Subway is my go-to place and since I get a veggie sandwich, I know I’ll get my vegetable servings in for the day. But lunch is the tricky meal. Since I eat lunch at 4:30, my body isn’t always hungry. But if I don’t eat then, I’ll feel faint by 9pm.
I wish I could write that I have a great plan figured out for this week, but I don’t. I’m probably going to have fast food again. But all I can do is track the calories and work as hard as possible to stay under my numbers for the day.
Lean cuisines and other low calorie microwave meals are a great alternative to fast food! I keep a stash of them in the fridge at work so that I don’t even have to leave the office for lunch.
My Fitness Pal is an excellent resource! Also, keep lots of healthy snacks on hand so that way in between meals you can have a low calorie and quick nibble on something so that you’re not feeling like you’re going to pass out if you don’t eat at 9pm. I snack on nutrigrain bars, those fiber one things, powerbars (they taste like candy bars btw), crackers, cheese, fruit, etc.
Losing weight is very exciting and no matter how quickly you do or don’t see results, do not be discouraged. With counting calories, it’s pure mathematics. There’s no way you can be at your daily caloric intake or lower and not maintain or lose weight!
I do sometimes bring soup to microwave at work, but there really isn’t room for me to store things there. I have to remember to bring it in the morning.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Great post!
You have to be careful with you’re just relying on counting calories… You could be eating more fat than you think. EX. You eat a pop tart for breakfast that is 300 calories but 200 calories from fat. And we all have hectic crazy lives so I totally understand when you say it’s hard to bring meals with you to work… I’ve found that if I prepare all of my meals on Sunday then I don’t have a day where skip a meal because I’m too busy to prepare it. Hopefully you’ll find something that works for you! Good Luck!
Does it really matter if the 300 calories comes from fat, protein, or carbs? Or is a calorie always just a calorie? That’s what I’m wondering about.
Carbs and fat are going to have the same effect on your body. Your body turns Carbohydrates into sugar for energy, so if you eat too much then your body turns it into fat. But there is such thing as good fats and good carbs, for instance fruits and veggies are good carbs as well as whole grains. Good fats include avocado, olive oil, nuts, and seeds. Your body reacts differently to whole grains than processed carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, sugar). Whole grains are digested slower stabilizing your blood sugar better so your body won’t store fat. SO, 300 calories matters when it comes to the type of food you’re eating. Does that make sense at all??
Nutritionally it does make sense. But if you are trying to eat 1400 calories, will you still lose weight if it’s 1400 calories of chocolate vs a balanced diet of the same number of calories?
I know that I need to eat better for nutrition, I’m just wondering about keeping the scale moving down.
I’m sure you would to some extent. But a lot of people start to plateau because they aren’t eating the right types of food. So in order to bust through a plateau, you would need to start making more changes to your diet!